Naqsh-e Rostam Favorites

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Favorite thing: Naqsh-e Rostam is a small but magnificent archaeological site about 12 km northwest of Persepolis. It is not as crowded as Persepolis and it's very suggestive. The name of this site comes from a bas relief which, for a long time, had been thought to represent a local mythical hero, Rostam. Even one of the tombs, for a while, was believed to have been Rostam's.

There are three main sights in Naqsh-e Rostam, five elevated Achaemenid tombs carved out of bare rock (4 finished and one unfinished), seven well-preserved Sassanid bas reliefs under the tombs, and a misterious structure called Ka'ba-ye Zartosht which might not have been a k'ba after all.

Fondest memory: As we were driving to Naqsh-e Rostam, our driver told us the story of Rostam, son of Zal and Rudaba, immortalized in the epic book Shahnameh by the poet Ferdowsi, who apprently spent 30 years writing it.

Rostam, the ultimate champion, at some point embarked on a journey is called "Rostam's Seven Labours, in which he had to: fight a lion; cross a desert; slay a dragon, two demons and a witch; tame a legendary stallion.

I have not read (yet) Rostam's stories but, judging from the driver's words, I could see some similarities with Cúchulainn, the Irish hero. One day I shall try and find out if I was right or wrong.